Archie Roach is a quiet, commanding man who chooses his words carefully. Having just released Creation, a remastered collection of his first four albums along with previously unreleased songs, he says that he is at “a turning point” in both his life and his work.

“I’m in this place now where I’m no longer confused," Roach says from his chair at his manager’s dining table in Melbourne. "I don’t have to write the type of songs that people might expect of me. I can be a lot freer now.”

Roach has enjoyed over two decades as a well-loved Australian roots and folk musician. His career took off in 1990 with the album Charcoal Lane, which brought him national attention and two Aria awards.

These days, Roach says many of his fans “are surprised and some people are a bit unsure of what it is I am doing” with his latest music. His 2012 album Into the Bloodstream had a gospel feel, for the first time using horns, violins and choirs.

While there may be fans who prefer his old folk and roots sound, Roach is unfazed. He is encouraged by those who have reached out to tell him they have enjoyed the new direction. “There’s more people who have come up to me now and have said that they have enjoyed it. They enjoy the positiveness of it and that’s great.”

It is this exact kind of certainty and maturity that permeates his latest music. Creation is a historical look at a hard life, which has become even harder in recent years. With the death of his wife and musical collaborator Ruby Hunter in 2010, followed by a stroke later the same year and a battle with lung cancer the year after that, Roach has his sights firmly set on the future. “It’s great to still be making music. Things are looking up and I’m looking at other ways to present my music.”

At his upcoming performance as part of the Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival, Roach will perform his well-loved classics as well as newer works, collaborating on stage with other musicians and artists.

Like the pioneering Aboriginal musician Jimmy Little before him, Roach is a crossover artist whose music resonates with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Yet Roach's music has had a more overtly political voice which speaks directly to issues affecting Australia’s Indigenous people, drawing on stories from his life.

Roach credits forerunners like Little and Bob Randall – whose 1970 song Brown Skin Baby (They Took Me Away) is credited with helping to end the government's child-removal policy – as well as his contemporaries like the band Yothu Yindi, for breaking down barriers and inspiring him and other Aboriginal people to become performers.

Roach remembers a time when the Aria awards had Indigenous-specific categories and “people weren’t quite sure where to place Aboriginal musicians. But I remember the first time I won best contemporary album, and that was a big step for Australian music.”

These days, Roach is excited to push his musical boundaries by surrounding himself with the new crop of Indigenous musicians. He recently recorded with Torres Strait Islander rapper Mau-Power. “The song with him has a lot do with what I’ve sung about through the years – the struggles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is through these fresh voices in music that a new generation of Australians will become more familiar with Australia’s first peoples."

Roach firmly insists that he gains more from the association with younger musicians than they do. “It’s much deeper and more rewarding than what I could possibly give them.”

“People are more accepting of the music that we [Aboriginal people] do and I think people will look and say ‘Wow, this is great music’ not ‘Check out this Aboriginal guy', or 'this Torres Strait Islander woman’. I think it is good for Australia as a whole.”

While Australia may be more accepting of Indigenous Australians as musicians, Roach is quick to point out that there is more work to do in society. He says that while he is unlikely to write another song like Took the Children Away, there is still a time and place for politics in his own music.

“The NT Intervention [the Australian government’s controversial welfare measures enacted only on Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory] is something I still want to address … to find the right words to help people to understand that it’s a very oppressive policy.”

Roach may currently be working on more reflective pieces, but he continues to understand the role that his music can play in changing the political landscape. “If I believe that there’s a better way … that’s something in my music that I need to address.”

Rather than giving voice to issues as he does, Roach suggests that newer Indigenous musicians are looking inwards to their communities rather than writing songs to bridge the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous listeners. “I think that’s where the future lies, especially with the [Aboriginal] communities … our young people are looking at ourselves.”

He looks firmly towards the future of Indigenous music with them.

“We’ve got to address the damage that it [previous government policies] has done to families, the children of the children, the grandchildren of the children that were taken away and how we can bring about some sort of change and some sort of hope in those people’s lives.”

Just like Roach, Indigenous musicians are now faced with freedom to make the kind of music that addresses their own people while still resonating with the wider community.